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CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy ) standards

The fuel standards for passenger cars and light trucks were established as part of the Energy Policy Conservation Act (EPCA) enacted in 1975. The Act was passed in response to the 1973-74 Arab oil embargo. Though generally opposed by industry,...
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CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility)

A business outlook that acknowledges responsibilities to stakeholders not traditionally accepted, including suppliers, customers, and employees as well as local and international communities in which it operates and the natural environment. There are few accepted standards and practices so far,...
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Capital

There are a number of related meanings in finance, accounting and economics. Capital refers to assets that can be used to create other assets. Sustainable managers recognize at least three different kinds of capital: financial (cash and other monetary instruments),...
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Carbon Disclosure Project

An initiative by leading institutional investors (with assets of $10T) to research and rate global companies based on their risks due to climate change. The 2003 CDP report estimated that a single carbon-intensive manufacturing company might carry as much risk...
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Carbon Footprint

The total amount of greenhouse gases emitted directly and indirectly to support human activities, usually expressed in equivalent tons of either carbon or carbon dioxide. Carbon footprints are calculated by countries as part of their reporting requirements under the Kyoto...
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Carbon Trading

Any trading system designed to offset carbon emissions from one activity (such as burning fossil fuels in manufacturing, driving, or flying) with another (such as installing more efficient technologies, planting carbon-reducing plants, or establishing contracts with others not to partake...
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Catalyst

In chemistry, an agent that speeds the rate of a chemical reaction. In business, this is often a term for a person who “makes things happen” by providing important knowledge, ideas, motivation or connections (relationships) in order to move an...
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Cause-Related Marketing

The association of a for-profit company with a non-profit organization or government agency, to promote the company's products or services while raising money or awareness for the non-profit or agency. Cause-related marketing is generally thought of as distinct from corporate...
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Caux Round Table Principles

The Caux Principles were developed in 1994 by a group of international business leaders as a guide for ethical and responsible corporate behavior. These principals are meant to be a cornerstone for business leadership to raise the moral and ethical...
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Ceres Principles

A ten-point code of environmental conduct that is publicly and voluntarily endorsed by companies as an environmental mission statement or ethic. Formed in 1989, Ceres is a partnership among environmental groups, labor unions, and institutional investors devoted to using shareholder...
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Cheater Capitalism

A term coined by Randy Hayes to describe the ability for companies to exploit economic policies that insufficiently attribute externalities. As long as these external costs are not addressed by business, the economy will, ultimately, be unsustainable....
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Clarkson Principles

Developed by the Clarkson Centre for Business Ethics under the leadership of Max Clarkson, these principles represent an early stage general awareness of corporate governance concerns that have been widely discussed in connection with the business scandals of 2002. In...
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Clean Production

Manufacturing processes designed to minimize environmental impact by using the minimum amount of energy and raw materials possible and producing limited waste or emissions...
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Clear Cutting

A process where all trees in a selected area are felled in a logging operation. Although some areas may be planted, seeded or naturally regenerated, the effect on the environment can be extremely destructive. The act of clear cutting is...
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Climate Change

The global climate has changed as human activity has released more and new substances and gases into the atmosphere. This has many results, including global warming, the effect of consistently increased average global temperature, particularly in the oceans. One of...
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Climate Neutral

The process of offsetting carbon-producing activities with those that either reduce or capture carbon, thus credibly neutralizing the net amount of carbon released in the atmosphere from a particular activity....
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Closed-loop Supply Chain

Ideally, a zero-waste supply chain that completely reuses, recycles, or composts all materials. However, the term can also be used to refer to corporate take-back programs, where companies that produce a good are also responsible for its disposal....
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Cogeneration

Cogeneration is the simultaneous production of electrical and thermal energy from the same fuel source. For example, surplus heat from an electric generating plant can be used for industrial processes, or space and water heating purposes. Or, waste heat from...
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Collapse

In evolutionary biologist Jared M. Diamond’s 2004 book, Collapse, he suggests that human societies collapse far more often than they succeed and that this failure is usually due to an inappropriate cultural response to environmental pressures (anthropogenic and otherwise) and...
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Collective Intelligence

Defined by George Pór, in The Quest for Collective Intelligence (1995), as the capacity of a human community to evolve toward higher order complexity thought, problem-solving and integration through collaboration and innovation. James Surowiecki, in The Wisdom of Crowds, says...
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